Marie Cookpad

  Today I am going to introduce you to a type of fish you may or may not have ever heard of.  It is probably one of the ugliest fishes you will ever see, but this is one case where you will definitely not want to judge the book by its cover!    Trust me when I say that this is a most flattering illustration as it is much uglier in real life than this. Other names for this fish are the Saint Pierre, or Peter's fish.  It is said to be the fish that Peter brought to Jesus and a related legend states that the dark spot on its side is St Peter's thumbprint.     All legends aside, this is one very delicious piece of fish, having been described by Jane Grigson to be one of the "most desirable creatures of the sea," and known to be a favourite noted Seafood Chef, Rich Stein.  It has a delicate sweet flavour, comparable to sole or turbot.   I got mine from The Fish Society .  The Fish Society is an online Luxury Fish Monger which carries a huge v...

  I think Sole has to be one of my absolutely favourites of all the fishes in the sea.  There are two types of Sole which we enjoy here in the UK, Dover Sole and Lemon Sole.  Both are highly-prized, delicately flavoured fishes.  Lemon Sole is slightly less expensive than Dover Sole, but in my opinion is just as delicious and that is what we enjoyed today.    My sole came from The Fish Society .   The Lemon Sole comes two fillets in a package, and in a variety of sizes from small to large.  Mine were medium sized.  They had the skin on, which I didn't necessarily want.  The skin of Sole can be quite rubbery, so I quickly removed it and disposed of it. Its very easy to do if you have a sharp knife.  Just make a small cut through the flesh at the narrow end of the fish, and then, angling your knife slightly, grab hold of the skin and wiggle it through beneath the blade of your knife, pulling it gently away from the fish. I am not sure ...

   Cod Cheeks.  Yep you read that right.  Cod Cheeks.  I adore Cod Cheeks.  To me they are every bit as delicious if not more so than scallops or lobster.  Seriously. If you have never tried them, you have no idea what you are missing.     Fish cheeks are a great delicacy.  A tiny pocket of meat, found just below the eyes,  they are tender and have a wonderful flavour.  Little nuggets of deliciousness.  Most Chef's love them as they are boneless, skinless and have a beautiful texture which lends itself to a variety of cooking methods.   My favourite way of cooking them is to coat them in a well flavoured cornmeal crumb and then fry them in hot oil.   They take literally just a few minutes to cook and are so tender and delicious when done.    And it is such a simple way to prepare them.  You just mix cornmeal (which is like a fine polenta) together with some simple seasonings . . .  cayenn...

  I love using our outdoor grill in the summer months as much as we can. We get such lousy weather the rest of the year, when the sun is shining, I want to make the most of it.  Next Thursday we have all the Missionaries invited over for a BBQ, so it will be dogs and burgers (I hope the sun shines!).  Today we took advantage of the glorious weather and I cooked some fabulous Red Snapper which I had gotten from The Fish Society .   It has been at least 20 years since I have had Red Snapper . Its not a fish that I have seen readily available over here in the UK, which is a shame since it is a really beautiful fish, with sweet succulent flesh.  I love it.  I was so excited when I discovered it at The Fish Society!    Todd had never had Red Snapper.  Did you know there are over a hundred species of Snapper?  There are only twenty five that are red.  The Fish Society sources their snapper from Indonesia, and comes flash frozen, descaled...